Neal Morris's (LF '10) office sits squarely in the middle of a historically African American neighborhood and shopping district undergoing an urban renaissance in New Orleans. So he was perfectly situated to get himself drawn into the middle of a project that nods to an important moment in musical history by securing the future of orchestral jazz culture in the city. He tells the story in the LOEBlog.
In the last century, stereotypes and attempts at social engineering have narrowed housing options in America, to the detriment of our ability to provide housing for all segments of society, argues Barbara Knecht (LF ‘93). But new middle class norms and well-designed small housing configurations are changing attitudes and providing hope for dealing with our current housing crisis. Read her contribution to the LOEBlog series, "Loeb Lab: From SROs to Micro-Units."
Students at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design teamed up with the Harvard Ceramics Program to design innovative techniques for ceramic materials. Led by Leire Asensio-Villoria, lecturer in architecture and landscape architecture, and DDes candidate Felix Raspall, the “Ceramic Materials Formations” exhibition at Gallery 224 in Allston showcased the students' exploration of fabrication techniques and the behavior of different ceramic materials.
Urban Design and Planning Professor Rahul Mehrotra’s Extreme Urbanism III studio explores possible interventions at the intersection between critical conservation and urban planning and design for Agra, India, an exemplar of contemporary urban challenges. At this moment, Loeb Fellows, studio students and students in the MDes Critical Conservation Program are in Agra conducting a close study of the conditions and opportunities that can propel the city forward toward a more sustainable future for its citizens, its historical treasures and its environment. Read more and see photos in the LOEBlog.
Ask any resident of Mexico City where they would like to be on a warm, Sunday afternoon, and it may well be a landscape designed by Mario Schjetnan. On Tuesday, February 17, Schjetnan described his latest projects on the practice and theory of landscape in a public lecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.
Harvard Magazine recently published an article by Stephanie Garlock called "Good Design: A Public Interest Movement Redefines Architecture," in which the author provides a critical analysis of socially progressive and pro bono architecture practices today.
Private investment in public park assets is being seen as a win-win situation for budget-challenged urban areas, and indeed it has worked well for existing jewels like Central Park in NYC. But as Inga Saffron (LF ’12) points out in her commentary in the New Republic, there’s a downside as well. Read more in the LOEBlog.
Last week's Aga Khan lecture, the first in Harvard Graduate School of Design's spring lecture series, explored the interaction between globalization, resistance, space and urban design in Cairo.
The PhD Program in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning announces an additional track in Architectural Technology.
Sururban development trends were explored in-depth by a Harvard University Graduate School of Design option studio entitled the Storm, the Strife, and Everyday Life: Sea Change in the Suburbs. Led by design critic Daniel D’Oca (MUP ’02), this studio tasked each student with examining a major concern in the suburbs.